The painting process of motor vehicles generally involves primer and top coat paint applications. It is important for corrosion resistance to ensure that all scheduled areas of the external body panels of the vehicle are properly painted, and indeed it is equally important that the painting process provide a pleasingly flawless finish.
One area of the painting process which is of concern with respect to providing a flawless finish has to do with the area around the fuel door. The fuel door is hinged to an exterior body panel to provide, when at its closed position (whereat the fuel door is oriented generally parallel to the body panel) a cosmetic cover of the fuel cap, and when at its open position (whereat the fuel door is oriented generally perpendicular to the body panel) access to the fuel cap for fueling purposes. Not only must the body panel be painted, but the fuel door including its outer and inner surfaces as well as its periphery, the visible portion of the goose neck which hingably supports the fuel door, and the fuel pocket surrounding the fuel cap all need painting, as well.
Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, a prior art method of opening a fuel door during a painting process is depicted. A door opener 10 is attached to the inner surface 12a of a fuel door 12. The fuel door is able to pivot between its open position and its closed position via a gooseneck 16 which is hinged and spring biased closed with respect to a body panel 14. The door opener 10 has a bracket 10a which removably clips onto the edges of reinforcement features 12b of the inner surface 12a, and further an arm 10b which extends outwardly from the periphery 12p of the fuel door 12.
In operation, a paint process is performed, whereduring the fuel door 12 is initially at its closed position and the paint process is applied to the body panel 14 and the outer surface 12c of the fuel door. Next the arm 10b of the door opener 10 is grabbed manually or by a robot, whereupon the fuel door 12 is pivoted to its open position. Now, the paint process is applied to the inner surface 12a of the fuel door 12, a visible portion of the goose neck 16 and the fuel pocket. Of course, for the inner surface 12a of the fuel door 12 to be painted, the door opener 10 needs to first be removed.
While the aforementioned technique works well, it risks the paint finish of the body panel being affected by the presence of the door opener 10 during the paint process. For example: the arm can cause shadowing of the paint finish; paint and dirt can accumulate onto the door opener; the bracket 10a and the arm 10b can occlude portions of the inner surface of the fuel door from being properly painted; and marring can occur when the door opener is disengaged from the fuel door.
Accordingly, what remains needed in the art is a new technique for opening the fuel door during a paint process such that the paint finish is everywhere flawless.